Elliot's football legacy raises an amazing £10,000 for Wirral hospice (From Wirral Globe)

Elliot's football legacy raises an amazing £10,000 for Wirral hospice

3:14pm Monday 23rd July 2012 in News By Stephanie Cureton

A YOUNG cancer victim’s legacy helped to raise thousands of pounds for charity at a special football tournament this weekend.

The Claire House Cup, which was held in memory of brave schoolboy Elliot Wild, pulled in a massive £10,000 for the children’s hospice in just two days.

It means the nine-year-old’s mum, Jackie, has now raised more than £50,000 in honour of her beloved son who lost his battle with leukaemia last year.

And she said the event, which was held at Wirral Rugby Club, brought a mixture of emotions for her and her family.

Jackie, who worked with local coaching experts JM Sports, said: “It was absolutely amazing to see hundreds of children turn up and want to get on the field – their excitement was so infectious and you could see how much they were enjoying it.

“I wasn’t expecting such a mixture of emotions on the day as it was an incredibly proud time for us to witness all our hard work paying off but of course the meaning behind it all was sad.

“It was lovely to meet all the kids and know how much they wanted to play for Elliot.”

More than 1,100 youngsters turned out for the tournament which saw local clubs sign up and compete for the coveted Claire House Cup.

And Jackie said football-mad Elliot would have loved that such an event was being held in his honour.

She added: “We had to cancel the event a couple of weeks ago because of the terrible rain and we all said that was Elliot’s way of telling us he didn’t want it that weekend!

“But I know that there wouldn’t have been a prouder child if he could see so many children out playing football for him.

“We’re hoping to make the tournament an annual event and keep increasing our total - it would be great to boost our target to £100,000 and with the help of Wirral children I’m sure we can do that.”